Process of treating innersoles for shoes.



0. M. GUY.

PROCESS OF TREATING INNERSOLES FOR SHOES.

f APPLICATION FILED JULY 2,1913.

1, 1 20, 1 9 3. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

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rare opinion.

CHAUNCEY IVI. GUY, OF BERWICK, MAINE.

PROCESS OF TREATING INNERSOLES FOR SHOES.

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Application filed July 2, 1913.

Shoes, of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact description, reference being had .to the accompanying drawings, forming a part cit this specification, in explaining its The present invention relates to a process for treating lnner soles for shoes, especially inner soles for welt shoes, where the inner sole is channeled around the edge to pr- Wide an upstanding lip or shoulder to which the welt and upper are sewed, an example of which is seen in the Goodyear welt, so called.

its is well known to those skilled in the art, the durability, form and ease of a shoe depend to a great extent upon the character of the inner sole. This is especially true of a Welt shoe inasmuch as the form of the shoe depends to a large extent upon the channeling of the inner sole and character of the lip turned from it preparatory to attaching the sole and upper thereto. To give proper form to the upper the channel cut in the inner sole should be of a proper depth, the channel. usually being slightly deeper in some places than in others. When the lip is turned up or lifted this should be accomplished without tearing the leather which would tend to deepen the channel, or, in other words, lengthen the distance that the lip lies away from the edge of the sole. Tnasrnuch as the lip is initially lifted to a proper raised or vertical position by the lip elevator, its character should be such that it may retain such proper raised position in order that the welt may be easily and uniformly attached to the lip and as near the body of the sole as possible. The lip should also be of such character and strength of material as to be capable of holding the stitches. With the best of stock the above conditions are fulfilled only to a certain degree. The sole may be properly channeled, but the lip will not retain its proper initial position in order that the parts may Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1911.4.

Serial No. 776,934.

be properly stitched to the sole, especially in the hands of an unskilful o erator. With poor grades of stock the com itions are met 1n a much less satisfactory manner, and in many cases the inner sole cannot be used at all. There are also many inner soles cut from poor stock and especially stock so soft that it cannot be used and keep its shape without being stiffened or reinforced in some way.

It is accordingly the object of my inventron to so treat inner soles of inferior stoclr or material that they may exhibit a high degree of efliciency in meeting the conditions above referred to; to provide, also, whereby stock may be used for inner soles that heretofore could not be used for that purpose. According to the present process a stiffening material is applied to the flesh side of the sole and in the case of inner soles for welt shoes, is applied to the side from which the lip projects preparatmy to the turning of the lip. This stilfening material is applied to the solo in such manner that it will not impregnate and harden the entire body of the sole but only the surface thereof and body of the sole just adjacent the surface. The process can best be seen and understood, however, in the light of an inner sole treated in accordance therewith, and for the purpose of illustration there is shown in the drawing an inner sole for a welt shoe or one from which a lip is turned, treated in accordance with the present process, and in which Figure 1 is a plan of the sole. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1, and Figs. 3 and 4. are sectional views of apparatus used for applying the stiffening material to the sole and otherwise treating the same, as will later be fully explained.

1 represents the body of the sole, 9) the surface thereof from which the lip projects, and 3 the lip.

l is a tentative illustration of the stiffen ing material with which the surface of the sole and lip is reinforced, it being understood that this stiilening material. permeates the body of the sole only to a slight degree (see Fl 2).

Referring now to the manner 1n which the stiflening material is applied to the sole, attention is first directed to Fig. f where 5 represents a, receptacle containing some stlfiening material 6. Resting on the bottom of an inlet pipe 8. The pad 7 being saturatedwith the stififening material, the sole to be reinforced is laid upon the pad, that side of the sole to be reinforced in contact with the pad. The sole is left upon the pad for a relatively short time. Tn practice if have found that an interval of from four to six seconds is amply sufficient. During this interval of time a sufficient amount of stidening material will have been taken up by the sole through capillarity to reinforce the surface thereof and penetrate the body of the sole adjacent the surface to a slight degree. After the removal of the sole from the ad the miffening material upon it is allowe to dry for about an hour when pressure is applied to the outer surface of the sole as by running the sole through rollers 9 and 10 as illustrated in Fig. 4, a pressure of some ten or fifteen pounds being preferably maintained. This rolling of the sole further tends to make smooth and stiflen the surface of the sole and bind together any loose fiber that may project from the side thereof,

the flesh side of the sole being usually the one treated. U

Any suitable leather-stififening material may beemployed for practising my invention. A common glue solution will give most excellent results and in practice ll employ one pound of glue to one gallon of water for treating ordinary stock and one and one half pounds of glue to one gallon of water for treating poorer grades of stock. Tn order to maintain the glue in such solution that it may keep the pad properly saturated my practice is to place the receptacle 5 containing the glue in a pan (not shown) containing hot water, the water being kept hot in any suitable manner. Tn practice the water is kept so warm as to maintain the glue solution at a temperature of approximately F. to F.

In applying the stifiening material to the sole one must be very careful not to stiffen the body of the sole too much else it will make the sole hard and unyielding with a liability to crack in use. Too much stiffness in the body of the sole is especially disastrons when the sole is to be used for a welt shoe for the lip cannot be properly raised after channeling the sole or such effect obtained only by tearing or cracking the leather, thereby tending to weaken the joint between the lip and the body of the sole, ones efiorts under such circumstances being entirely futile, the sole, in other words, being injured instead of improved. After the treatment of; the sole it is ready to be applied to the shoe; in the case of a sole for a welt shoe the channel first being cut and a lip raised in the usual manner.

Having thus fully described my invention, T claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. The process of treating an inner sole which consists in applying a stiffening mastifiening material for a short period of 1 time and thereby impregnating the portion of the sole adjacent said surface with said stifiening material by capillary attraction.

4%. The process of treating an inner sole comprising the step of applying a surface of the sole to a pad saturated with some stiffening material for a short period of time and thereby impregnating the portion of the sole adjacent said surface with said stifiening material by capillary attraction, and afterward partially drying and rolling said sole.

5. The process of treating an inner sole which is to have a raised lip comprising the steps of applying a stiffening material to the surface of the sole from which the lip is to project preparatory to the raising of said lip, and afterward partially drying and rolling said sole.

6. The process of treating an inner sole 7 which is to have a raised lip comprising the step of applying a stifl'ening material to the surface of said sole from which the lip is to project preparatory to the raising of said lip, by capillary attraction for a short period of time.

7. The process of treating an inner sole which is to have a raised lip comprising'the step of applying the surface of the sole from which the lip is to project, preparatory to raising the lip, to a pad saturated with some stiffening material, whereby the stifl'ening material may be applied for a short period of time to the surface of the sole through capillary attraction and a portion only of the sole adjacent its surface become impregnated with. saidmaterial.

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8. The process of treating an inner sole 1% which is to have a raised lip comprising the application of said stiffening material alsteps of applyin the surface of the sole from which the lip is to project, preparatory to raisinfi the lip, to a pad saturated with some sti ening material, whereb the stiffening material may be applied or a short period of time to the surface of the sole through capillary attraction, after the lowing the same to partially dry and after- 10 ward rolling the sole.

CHAUNOEY M. GUY. 

